“The Canvas of Scars : Art as a Lifeline for Rwanda’s Young Survivors”

We often get to talk about what gets lost in conflict and what’s left behind. Seldom do we focus on how to put those pieces back together. Among the great losses of war, one significant aspect that we often forget to focus on is emotional healing. Thousands of dollars of aid go in and out, trying to provide food, shelter, and the essential means to read and write, but do we ever stop to consider how to heal the soul?

In Rwanda, after the horrors of the 1994 genocide, what I found unique was that healing the soul was actually given some importance. A million lives were lost in 100 days, leaving behind not just a view of hell but an entire generation of children scarred by violence. For these young survivors, returning to school was not just a matter of education—it was a matter of survival. The classroom offers an experience that no aid could ever do. It provides a sense of belonging, hope, and a path toward emotional recovery.

The program Never Again Rwanda took on this challenge with innovation and empathy. All the children of trauma carry invisible scars, such scars entwined within their very being that may not be visible to the naked eye but what influences every finger they lift, every word they speak. This program introduced art therapy into the curriculum. For children who saw their families torn apart, painting became a lifeline. Their emotions flowed onto paper—their pain etched within those very lines. These creative exercises allowed children to express what words could not.

Storytelling became another powerful tool. It gave children a voice, without having to speak. Teachers encouraged them to share their experiences as victims and survivors. Listening to each other’s stories built bridges between different sectors of society, planting the seeds of empathy and understanding. For many, it became a way to mend their relationship with not just their society but with the world that left them without mercy. Not just with each other, but with the world that had left them without mercy, abandoning them. 

I believe that every nation, every ethnicity, every race that faces conflict should focus on ways to not just mend the mere body, but the souls. I once heard that spiritual healing is the window to the soul; as the soul heals, the outside changes. Studies have shown time and time again that art, in any form, has a meditative effect on the mind and the body. Some people still find it hard to fathom that a task as little as scribbling lines on a piece of paper can fix something within our brains, but have you never heard the rain, the birds chirping at sunrise, the moon on a clear night? It is often the simplest of things that bring us peace.